GOP tax plan passed in Congress, you could pay your property taxes early

When the GOP tax plan goes into effect on Jan. 1, it will cap deductions for state, local and property taxes at $10,000. If you pay a lot in real estate taxes, that could be a big blow.

But the theory is if you pay your property taxes before the bill takes effect, you could avoid the cap for one more year and possibly save yourself money.

So, property owners can prepay their 2018 property taxes to avoid the limit on how much can be deducted under the tax reform legislation passed by Congress Wednesday, officials said.

Beginning in 2018, couples filing jointly will be limited to an annual deduction of no more than $10,000 worth of state and local income, sales and property taxes. As your standard deduction is $ 24,000.00 for couples filing jointly, unless you have a very high mortgage interest payment, its difficult to exceed the standard deduction. So it’s a better option to prepay your property taxes in 2017.

Pre-paying property taxes might not be possible if your mortgage servicer pays them for you from an escrow account. People should contact their servicer to see whether they can adjust the monthly escrow amount if you prepay your property taxes.